I finished this book this morning with 3.5 (23.5 hours and 4 books on the year) more hours of reading.The book is a psychologist's (Tatum) take on the development of racial identity amongst kids of all races.
She balances psychological / racism theory with anecdotes from her students and seminar atendees over the years. These exerpts give lights to thoughts that are immediatly identifiable to the reader.
A lot of students have asked me about the answer to the cover's question: Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?
Since it isn't the major thread of the book and wouldn't ruin it, I'll try to explain.
In a mixed-racial community, it is very common to see children of all different races going to each other's birthday parties at a young age. At this point in their life, children of color generally are not stereotyped or discriminated against.
Once they reach adolescence, tension starts to form between white students and students of color when students of color start making claims that they are being discriminated against. When it becomes apparent that the white student can't relate, or doesn't believe them, black students turn to other black students for support.
The book is built around a lot of interesting questions like this one. It's a classic book on modern racism, white privilege, and social justice. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about any of these issues.
1 comment:
Hey it's Megan. I've tried to post my blog 5 times and it keeps saying an error has occured and when i go to view the blog it doesn't show up so.. here is my blog for you so you don't put an F on my thing cuz that would make me mad!
The babies finally got to go home after a long stay in the ICU. Jon and Kate finally got to return home after a long time away. Everything seemed different to Kate, It was definitely a struggle when they arrived at home and needed many helpers to help with all the things that needed to be done.
Total Time Read: 1 hour.
TOTAL TIME READ OVERALL: 13 and 1/2 Hours.
Post a Comment